TALK: Can Ethnic Nationalism Facilitate American Incorporation? The Case of the “Vietnamese American” Identity

Vietnamese Americans offer two curiosities to the study of racial, ethnic and minority politics. One, they appear more likely than other Asian Pacific populations in the United States to distance themselves from purely “American” or “Asian American” identities, in spite of an unusually high rate of naturalization. Two, they appear more likely to engage in a wide range of political activities. In this talk, Vietnamese American politics is analyzed within a tripartite framework for minority/immigrant political incorporation — liberation, mobilization and security. The lecture explains how ethnic nationalism plays a role in each process.